Thursday, August 26, 2010

So I park my car in the Trader Joe's parking lot, let's say about 100 yards from the door. Busy night. Parking lot filled. I start innocently walking from my car, when I start to notice a pattern. A very obnoxious pattern. One that makes me want to scream and kick and wreak havoc upon the terrible drivers of Pittsburgh.

These incidents are separate. One moron's mistake did not lead to the others. These are three separate drivers doing terrible things to ruin my life.

Let me also just say a word about the customers at the TJ's in Pittsburgh...I can't STAND them! They blatantly exude arrogance. I would love to walk up to one of them and say, "listen Ms. Yoga Pants and Mr. Hipster...we're all here. We're all buying 'cool' foods and catching up on the latest products. Look in my basket...I'm buying stuff here too!"

They just don't get it. And they drive like morons.

Really? REALLY??? Yes, the laws DO apply to you, city version of the soccer mom! And you there, greasy-haired tight-jeaned reusable bag carrier, you too must, dare I say, conform to the rules that we all have to follow!

Oh, and look around you. 90% of these people are carrying reusable bags. You're not the only one. So stop flaunting it like the ribbon you got when you pooped in the toilet for the first time.

God bless small river communities for taking poor wounded victims like me under their wings and keeping us safe from the terrible, terrible automobile operators of Shittsburgh.

And one more thing...you are no longer the city of champions! The Pens lost, the Steelers lost, the Pirates always lose, so take down those flags and burn those ugly t-shirts of yours.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Andy's mom gave me an eggplant, which I was very excited about, so I decided to roast it the other night. I just chopped it up into cubes, put it on the pan, and sprinkled it with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Yum!

Remember the sweet potato sandwich from the cafe in Boston? I made some of the tahini yogurt sauce by mixing one part tahini to two parts yogurt and a few squirts of lemon juice. It was delicious! I thought it would be awesome with the eggplant, since they both have that middle eastern thing going on.

And it was! After it roasted for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees, I put some dollops on the eggplant and returned the pan to the oven for a few more minutes.

I used the rest as dipping sauce, and my life hasn't been the same since...well at least until I had TJ's Tom Yam soup. Now my life is really amazing.

Up next in the chronicles of Kelly: why Pittsburghers shouldn't own vehicles.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Okay not really...but I would. If PPG called me today and said they had an urgent need for my lab tech skills in Boston, I'd do it.

So Boston was a lot of fun...too much fun. Ridiculously fun.

I flew out Friday afternoon and got there by 2ish. The flight was only about an hour and fifteen minutes long, and I got to watch the Food Network and Travel Channel. The lady next to me and I had fun making fun of all the people around us and making faces at the adorable baby across the isle.

Liesl met me at the airport, and we eventually made our way to the Harpoon Brewery for a free hour-long beer tasting. It was pretty funny. The beer was awesome, the people were all pretty nice, but the guy talking about the beer was lame. He kept on shhhhing us all and spent about 20-25 minutes of the hour talking about the beer when all we really wanted to do was drink it. Liesl got a growler of UFO white. Yum.

Afterwards, we walked around Boston and it was so nice. The weather was great, and the city is just so pretty. Especially compared to Pittsburgh. We got giant falafels and stuffed grape leaves at the Falafel King and enjoyed some intense people watching (and growler emptying).

Saturday morning we treated ourselves to some breakfast beers (leftover growler) and took the T to the Sam Adams brewery. Due to our breakfast beers and imminent beer tasting, we thought it would be wise to grab some lunch. Ula Cafe is a delicious place right around the corner. We both had the sweet potato sandwich that had avocados, red onion, sprouts, cheese, and a yogurt-tahini-poppy seed dressing. Delicious. The zucchini bread was kickin' too.

We made it to the brewery with time to spare for an awkward picture.

Our tour guide was entertaining and answered all of the inquisitive European woman's odd questions.

The good part. We tried Boston Lager (so much better here than anywhere else I've had it), Summer Ale (also so much better), and Boston Brick Red, which is only served in Boston. Cool!

After the tour, we took the "party trolly" to Doyle's, a nearby bar that gives you the glass if you order a Sam's.

We stood on the back ledge of the trolly...probably dangerous, but quite entertaining.

Hey look, it's the tallest building in Boston!

After a trip to Trader Joe's for some Kennebunkport Blueberry Beer (ohhhh so good), we meandered through Boston some more and made our way to The Barking Crab.

Oh hi Liesl!

The Barking Crab was super.

We almost shared the lonely lobster (1.25 lb) and the lonely crab (Jonah) but our dramatic waiter wildly suggested the 1.25 lb lobster and the crab legs. He may have been wacky, but he was definitely right. So yummy!

We continued on sampling different beers at different bars and met some interesting characters along the way. There was also a 99 cent pizza in our lives that night. And for the record, neither Liesl nor I know of any good Jazz clubs to go dancing on a Saturday night. In case you were wondering.

Mind you, EVERY single time one of the aforementioned people come over, they are at least three hours late, or simply don't come at all or forget and have to reschedule...the rescheduling usually ending up to be days later. And, their moronic ways and my third shift sleeping patterns do not mix well whatsoever.

I don't even need a stupid ceiling fan! I asked them to just replace it with a light fixture, but no...their stupid Y chromosomes INSIST on making this dang fan work.

Monday, August 16, 2010

I'm not even upset that it's Monday - just means I'm one day closer to Boston! Woohoo!!! My weekend was pretty fabulous. Ate a lot of tasty food, tried some new delicious beers at a bar-ish type place in New Kensington, and got to spend a lot of time with Andy. Unfortunately my weekend ended yesterday with a terribly awkward experience of two men fixing my ceiling fan. It was not fun. They were quite rude. My landlord is going to get an angry phone call.

So I ended up making Pioneer Woman's Firecracker Shrimp. So delicious! I added soy sauce to mine, and when the shrimpies were done cooking, I deglazed the pan with lemon juice. Amazing!

On Friday, Andy and I went to a place called Zottola's which was about 20 minutes away. We got to sit outside, and the weather was just perfect. We ordered mussels as an appetizer, and they were just too good. The waitress said that people often ask for spoons to scoop the sauce into mouth, and I almost asked for one...almost.

Andy took me to Dick's Sporting Goods to pick out a bat, shown below. He says it's a "big man little man equalizer" in case of intruders. So now I have a pink and purple softball bat to knock strangers over the head. Pretty sweet.

Friday, August 13, 2010

I got a coupon for one, so I decided to try it out. It's a tiny watermelon that is super yummy and has less rind.

I don't remember how much it was with or without the coupon, and I'm never one to buy a whole watermelon, but this was so darn good that I'd probably get it again. Very flavorful and juicy!!

I finally got around to making hummus, and it was the best thing that's ever happened to me...ever.

I had to chain the refrigerator shut so there'd be some left when Andy got here.

I just made your typical hummus recipe that you can find on any recipe website (chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil) and then I added salt, pepper, little bit of cumin, and chipotle seasoning. I think the key to the awesomeness was definitely the olive oil and lemon juice. Sooooo good soooo creamy and delicious!

I also tried out something new a couple days ago, and I don't really know how I feel about it. I wanted to make something that was kind of breakfasty, so I did this: bed of spinach, crack two eggs on top, add a sliced tomato and sliced cheese, a Serrano pepper, and spices.

So that's what I did. I waited until it was almost done to add the cheese and turn the oven to broil. Maybe I overcooked the eggs. Maybe I shouldn't have mingled them so closely to the spinach. I just don't know. It definitely tasted really good, it was just one of those things that when it was over, you were glad that you didn't have to eat any more.

I have been spending so much time on Smitten Kitchen and she has a ton of awesome recipes that incorporate baking the eggs, so I wanted to try it myself. I guess I should have just followed one of her recipes.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

These two gems of late fall into the "looks gross, tastes good" category. Because they, well...look like poo and taste like WOO!

This is the green monster's cousin the turd monster. He's a little sensitive about his looks but is quite tasty and very nutritious. Ingredients: two handfuls blueberries, one peach, one cup almond milk, ice. Easy! I wanted to use yogurt, but I had none!

This is more of a look gross, tastes AMAZING meal. My mom sent me a recipe for Pea Avocado Penne that looked sooo tasty, so I tried it myself.

My adaptation has: two servings whole wheat penne, one avocado (mash up in the pan), a few chunks of goat cheese, a couple dollops of butter or marg, a few sprinklings of parm, salt, pepper, and the Northwood Fire seasoning.

Ugghhh my belly is so happy and I can't wait to have the second half at work! :) :)

Speaking of ugly, how does one start a petition to deny semi-trucks the right to use their jake-brake in one's town? I can hear them BRRRRRBRRRRRRing from the main road and it's driving me batty. Help!